[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12541-S12542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE CENTENNIAL OF SENATOR MARGARET CHASE SMITH'S BIRTH
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to say a few words in honor of one
of our Nation's most legendary Senators and one of Maine's most beloved
public figures: Senator Margaret Chase Smith.
December 14 marks the 100th anniversary of Senator Smith's birth.
Since we will not be in session on the 14th, I would like to take the
opportunity to speak in honor of her centennial today.
Margaret Chase Smith has the distinction of being the first woman
elected in her own right to both the House of Representatives and the
U.S. Senate. She served in the Senate from 1949 to 1972--the entire
time that I was growing up in Maine. Throughout her tenure in Congress,
she served as a great source of pride and inspiration for countless
people throughout Maine and the Nation.
Mr. President, I am one of those fortunate people whose life was
touched personally by Senator Margaret Chase Smith. So it is with a
great deal of gratitude and admiration that I speak about her legacy
today in celebration of her centennial.
Mr. President, when I was just 18 years old, a high school senior
from Caribou, ME, Senator Margaret Chase Smith encouraged me to pursue
a career in public service. Now I serve in the U.S. Senate, holding her
very seat. Her example of moderation, independence and integrity
continues to guide me every day as I seek to represent the people of
Maine.
Walking through the Halls of the Senate, I am frequently reminded of
my first significant encounter with Senator Smith.
In January 1971, I left my hometown of Caribou, ME, to spend a week
here in Washington, DC. I was one of 100 high school students from
around the Nation participating in the U.S. Senate Youth Program. The
program consisted of VIP tours of Washington, formal dinners, and
numerous high-profile speakers ranging from Supreme Court Justices to
top White House officials. The highlight of my week, however, was the
afternoon that we visited our respective Senators.
When I arrived at Senator Smith's office, I was immediately ushered
into her personal suite. Her office was bustling with activity, and yet
it had a stately and serene quality. Senator Smith looked perfectly at
home in the setting as the only woman in the Senate. Her green office
suited her well and, of course, reminded me of the State of Maine. She
shook my hand and invited me to sit down, and seemed genuinely
interested in what I had to say.
Much to my amazement, Mr. President, instead of just quickly posing
with me for a picture, Senator Smith spent nearly 2 hours talking to me
about her years in Congress. She stressed the importance of public
service and the difference that one person could make. We talked about
her opposition to McCarthyism and the necessity of standing tall for
one's principles no matter what the cost.
As I was leaving, she handed me a copy of her famous ``Declaration of
Conscience'' speech to take with me. I was struck by her presence and I
knew that she was a woman of enormous strength and integrity. I was so
proud that she was my Senator.
As I bid her farewell, I could not keep the smile from stretching
across my face nor the dreams from racing through my mind. To me,
Senator Smith was living proof that women, even those of us from small
rural towns in Maine, could accomplish anything upon which we set our
sights.
I have since learned that my early impressions of Senator Smith are
shared by thousands of others throughout our State and throughout the
Nation whose lives she touched. But we in Maine are particularly
fortunate to have had her as a role model and as our Senator.
As one Congresswoman recently said to me, ``You know, it was much
harder for women to get elected in my State because we didn't have
Margaret Chase Smith.''
Senator Smith's 32 years of leadership epitomized the type of
thoughtful, independent representation that sets a standard for public
service.
As I campaigned throughout Maine for the Senate last year, it was
apparent to me that the name ``Margaret Chase Smith'' strikes a
resounding chord with the citizens of my State. From Kittery to Calais
to Fort Kent, people recognize and honor her name and her legacy as
synonymous with thoughtful, independent, and honest representation.
This above all else, Mr. President, is the legacy of Senator Smith and
the tradition which those of us who are honored to follow in her
footsteps strive to uphold.
While Senator Smith served as an inspiration to me as a young girl
and as a beacon of strength during my two statewide campaigns, it was
not until I began my service in the Senate that I fully understood her
legacy and the extraordinary courage she exhibited throughout her years
in Congress.
Margaret Chase Smith is perhaps best remembered for her principled
and unabashed stance against Senator Joe McCarthy. Because the
courageous stand that she took against McCarthyism is so familiar to
all of us today--it seems to be so obviously the right thing to do--we
sometimes forget and underestimate the risks that she took and the
hardships she endured in this fight. From my new perspective as a U.S.
Senator, I must say that the courage that Senator Smith showed during
the McCarthy era is truly remarkable.
Over the course of the past several months, I have had many occasions
to reflect upon another of Senator Smith's principled positions.
As a member of the Governmental Affairs Committee, I have been
involved in investigating the fundraising abuses of the 1996
Presidential election campaigns. These hearings have examined some of
the most deplorable and certainly most excessive fundraising practices
in our Nation's history, such as operating the Lincoln Bedroom like a
hotel, phony issue ads, fundraising coffees in the Oval Office and soft
money contributions of staggering sums and questionable origins.
In the 24 years since Senator Smith left office, fundraising has
become an all-consuming and self-propelling institution. It is
difficult for those of us who are in office today to remember that
Senator Smith waged so many successful political campaigns without
soliciting a single contribution. How we envy her. She believed that
big money had the potential to be a corrupting influence in the system,
and she has certainly been proven right.
Throughout this past year--my first in the Senate--I have been
reminded of one of Senator Margaret Chase Smith's most famous
statements time and again. She once said that there is a ``difference
between the principle of
[[Page S12542]]
compromise and the compromise of principle.'' This sentiment has guided
me through many tough negotiations and heated debates where it is
sometimes difficult to know when it is best to be stalwart for the sake
of principle and when it is time to seek common ground in the name of
action.
Compromising one's principles is wrong; but the principle of
compromise, on the other hand, is the essence of a healthy democracy.
Senator Smith's wisdom has helped me many times in reaching decisions
on thorny issues.
Mr. President, 25 years after my first encounter with Senator Smith,
I fulfilled the dream that she fostered in me back in 1971, and was
elected to her seat in the U.S. Senate. Just as Senator Smith was the
first woman elected in her own right to both the House of
Representatives and the Senate, upon my election, Maine became the
first State in the Nation to be represented and to elect two Republican
women Senators.
This distinction is a fitting tribute and testament to the legacy of
Margaret Chase Smith. If not for her 32 years of congressional service,
many doors to and within the Capitol might still be closed to women
today.
In all of history, Mr. President, there have only been 15 women
elected to the U.S. Senate in their own right, and 3 of us have been
from the great State of Maine.
Thanks to Senator Smith's decades of selfless service, principled
leadership and pioneering efforts, the people of Maine know that
leadership is not about gender; it is about decency and tenacity and
service and integrity. Margaret Chase Smith embodied all of these
traits, and so much more.
Today, I honor her for paving the way for me, and countless others,
and for establishing the thoughtful and independent approach to public
service that Mainers have come to expect from their elected officials.
I thank the Chair. And I also thank the Chair for presiding for me so
that I could pay tribute on the 100th anniversary of the great Senator
from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Presiding Officer in his capacity as a
Senator from the State of Wyoming suggests the absence of a quorum.
The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SPECTER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SPECTER. I compliment the distinguished Senator from Maine,
Senator Collins, for those very erudite and profound remarks. The U.S.
Senate is graced by two women Senators, Senator Olympia Snowe and
Senator Susan Collins. I know that Senator Margaret Chase Smith is a
role model for them as she is a role model for so many in America--men
as well as women.
It is with some frequency I quote her famous dictum, to distinguish
between the principle of compromise and the compromise of principle.
I think with the qualities of Senator Collins and Senator Snowe, they
would be in the U.S. Senate even without Senator Margaret Chase Smith
blazing the trail for them in Maine, but it didn't do them any harm.
That was an extraordinary statement. I have had the good fortune to
work with both Senator Collins and Senator Snowe on a little Wednesday
lunch group and on the Governmental Affairs Committee. Senator Collins
has done outstanding work on the Governmental Affairs Committee and I
think there is more coming.
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